2 More Canadian Soldiers Committed Suicide After Serving in Afghanistan

A boy holding a toy pistol stands a cage containing chickens for sale near the venue of an election campaign by Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan March 19, 2014. The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5.
REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Two Canadian soldiers have reportedly committed suicide. Both of them served in Afghanistan. Canada finally withdrew its forces from Afghanistan only days back.

Corporal Alain Lacasse was found dead in his Quebec home on Monday, March 17. CBC News reported that police were not ready to give out any details of the death since Cpl Lacasse killed himself. According to the Department of National Defence of Canada, one more soldier who served in Afghanistan, Master Corporal Tyson Washburn, allegedly committed suicide on Saturday, March 15.

Mr Washburn used to serve ]in the 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment in Pembroke in Ontario. Even though officials did not release any details of the death, CBC News came to know that Mr Washburn's death was a case of suicide. According to a statement by DND spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier, Mr Washburn did not die "on DND property." He said that the Ontario Provincial Police were investigating the death. Therefore, it would be "inappropriate" to comment on it, he said. Mr Washburn joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a cook in 2006 while he was deployed in Afghanistan in 2010.

Mr Lacasse, on the other hand, was from the Third Battalion of the 22nd Royal Regiment. The soldier, who was also known as the Van Doos, served for his nation in Afghanistan and Bosnia. His last deployment was between 2007 and 2008 in Afghanistan. There, he took part in patrols near Kandahar. CBC News reported that Mr Lacasse saw death very closely when he was in Afghanistan. Only days before his mission ended, his vehicle encountered a suicide bomber who jumped before it. Even though the car exploded, he survived.

According to reports, another Canadian soldier who served in Afghanistan, Corporal Sylvain Lelièvre, killed himself in December 2013. Mr Lelièvre took part in several missions abroad. He served both in Afghanistan and Bosnia. Three other Canadian veteran army officials committed suicide in November 2013.